DES MOINES, Iowa – The Oregon women closed out a perfect day of qualifying on Thursday at Drake Stadium.

In the 3,000 steeplechase, senior Claire Michel placed fourth in her heat at 10:06.63, and freshman Lanie Thompson was sixth in her heat with a PR of 10:03.74. The top six in each heat automatically moved on to Saturday's final.

Elsewhere, the UO women won their heat in the 4×400 relay to also advance to Saturday's final.

The bad news is that Des Moines is being hit by another heavy rainstorm with lightning, forcing a second weather delay. The next update will be at 9 p.m.

Curtis Anderson covered UO track and field for The Register-Guard from 1990-96, and again since 2005. He covered the 2012 Olympic Games in London, in addition to the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in New Orleans (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Hayward Field (2008 and 2012). He is the winner of the Jesse Abramson Award, presented by the Track & Field Writers of America for excellence in coverage in 2008.